Network device, method and computer readable medium for wireless networks

ABSTRACT

Network devices include a memory and a processor, wherein the processor is configured to determine a connection state of one or more first client devices, and in response to the determination that none of the one or more first client devices are connected to the wireless network for a predetermined time period, cause one or more second client devices currently connected to network devices other than a predetermined network device in the wireless network to connect to the predetermined network device. The network devices other than the predetermined network device turn off their wireless access function such that the wireless access function of only the predetermined network device is kept on.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to wireless networks, and moreparticularly, to network devices, methods, computer-readable media, andapparatuses for saving power consumption in wireless networks.

BACKGROUND ART

Wireless networks have been widely used in various offices or livingenvironments. In various environments such as home/office, due tovarious factors such as a large area to be covered, a large number ofclient devices, or a dense distribution of client devices, if only onenetwork device (for example, an access point, AP) or other networkdevices with access function) provides wireless access (for example,Wi-Fi access) in the area, the wireless access it provides may not fullycover the entire area, or it may not provide reliable wireless access tomeet user needs for all client devices in the environment.

Therefore, in this kind of environment, the range of wireless networkcan be expanded by adding one or more network devices, e.g., a wirelessmesh network can be formed by adding one or more extended APs (aka,extenders or extender APs), so that Wi-Fi can have a wider coverage,larger capacity and higher transmission reliability, thus improving theuser's experience of accessing wireless network.

However, compared with a wireless network composed of only one main AP,a wireless network architecture composed of a plurality of networkdevices (for example, a plurality of APs, or a main AP and an extendedAP) will consume more power.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to power saving in a wireless networkincluding a plurality of network devices.

Some aspects of the present disclosure relate to a first network devicefor a wireless network, wherein the wireless network comprises aplurality of network devices having a wireless access function, theplurality of network devices comprise the first network device, thefirst network device comprising a memory having instructions storedthereon and a processor configured to execute the instructions stored onthe memory to cause the first network device to perform the followingoperations: determining a connection state of one or more first clientdevices; and in response to the determination that none of the one ormore first client devices are connected to the wireless network for apredetermined time period, causing one or more second client devicescurrently connected to network devices other than a predeterminednetwork device among the plurality of network devices in the wirelessnetwork to connect to the predetermined network device; and instructingthe network devices other than the predetermined network device to turnoff the wireless access function such that the wireless access functionof only the predetermined network device is kept on.

In some embodiments, for the above-mentioned first network devices,wherein the first network device is connected with other network devicesamong the plurality of network devices by wire, the processor is furtherconfigured to execute instructions stored on the memory to cause thefirst network device to perform the following operations: determiningwhether any of the one or more first client devices is connected to thepredetermined network device; and in response to the determination thatat least one of the one or more first client device is connected to thepredetermined network device, instructing the network devices other thanthe predetermined network device to turn on the wireless accessfunction.

In some embodiments, for the above-mentioned first network devices,wherein in a case where the predetermined network device comprises thefirst network device, the processor is further configured to executeinstructions stored on the memory to cause the first network device toperform the following operations: in response to the determination thatthe at least one of the one or more first client devices is connected tothe predetermined network device, notifying the network devices otherthan the predetermined network device to turn on the wireless accessfunction through a wired connection.

In some embodiments, for the above-mentioned first network device,wherein in a case where the predetermined network device does notcomprise the first network device, the processor is further configuredto execute instructions stored on the memory to cause the first networkdevice to perform the following operations: receiving a message from thepredetermined network device through a wired connection, wherein themessage indicates that the at least one of the one or more first clientdevices has been connected to the predetermined network device; turningon the wireless access function on the first network device; andnotifying network devices other than the predetermined network deviceand the first network device to turn on the wireless access functionthrough a wired connection.

In some embodiments, for the above-mentioned first network device,wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructionsstored on the memory to cause the first network device to perform thefollowing operations: periodically polling network devices other thanthe first network device among the plurality of network devices todetermine the connection state of the one or more first client devices;or periodically receiving reports from the network devices other thanthe first network device among the plurality of network devices todetermine the connection state of the one or more first client devices.

In some embodiments, for the above-mentioned first network device,wherein the processor is further configured to execute instructionsstored on the memory to cause the first network device to: cause the oneor more second client devices to connect to the predetermined networkdevice through signaling based on wireless network protocol; or causethe one or more second client devices to connect to the predeterminednetwork device by temporarily adding the one or more second clientdevices to blacklists of the network devices other than thepredetermined network device.

In some embodiments, for the above-mentioned first network devices,wherein the one or more first client devices and the predeterminednetwork device are set by a user through a configuration page or agraphical user interface of an application of the wireless network.

Other aspects of the present disclosure relate to a method for awireless network, wherein the wireless network comprises a plurality ofnetwork devices having a wireless access function, and the plurality ofnetwork devices comprise a first network device, and the methodcomprising: determining a connection state of one or more first clientdevices; and in response to the determination that none of the one ormore first client devices are connected to the wireless network for apredetermined time period, causing one or more second client devicescurrently connected to network devices other than the predeterminednetwork device among the plurality of network devices in the wirelessnetwork to connect to the predetermined network device; and instructingthe network devices other than the predetermined network device to turnoff the wireless access function, such that the wireless access functionof only the predetermined network device is kept on; wherein the methodis executed by the first network device.

In some embodiments, for the above method, wherein the first networkdevice is connected with other network devices among the pluralitynetwork devices by wire, and the method further comprising: determiningwhether any of the one or more first client devices is connected to thepredetermined network device; and in response to the determination thatat least one of the one or more first client devices is connected to thepredetermined network device, instructing the network devices other thanthe predetermined network device to turn on the wireless accessfunction.

In some embodiments, for the above method, wherein in a case where thepredetermined network device comprises the first network device, thestep of in response to the determination that the at least one of theone or more first client devices is connected to the predeterminednetwork device, instructing the network devices other than thepredetermined network device to turn on the wireless access functionfurther comprising: in response to the determination that the at leastone of the one or more first client devices is connected to thepredetermined network device, notifying the network devices other thanthe predetermined network device to turn on the wireless access functionthrough a wired connection.

In some embodiments, for the above method, wherein in a case where thepredetermined network device does not comprise the first network device,the step of in response to the determination that the at least one ofthe one or more first client devices is connected to the predeterminednetwork device, instructing the network devices other than thepredetermined network device to turn on the wireless access functionfurther comprising: receiving a message from the predetermined networkdevice through a wired connection, wherein the message indicates thatthe at least one of the one or more first client devices has beenconnected to the predetermined network device; turning one the wirelessaccess function on the first network device; and notifying networkdevices other than the predetermined network device and the firstnetwork device to turn on the wireless access function through a wiredconnection.

In some embodiments, for the above method, wherein the step of causingthe one or more second client devices to connect to the predeterminednetwork device further comprises: causing the one or more second clientdevices to connect to the predetermined network device through signalingbased on wireless network protocol; or causing the one or more secondclient devices to connect to the predetermined network device bytemporarily adding the one or more second client devices to blacklistsof the network devices other than the predetermined network device.

In some embodiments, for the above method, wherein the one or more firstclient devices and the predetermined network device are set by a userthrough a configuration page or a graphical user interface of anapplication of the wireless network.

Other aspects of the present disclosure relate to a non-transientcomputer-readable medium for a wireless network, wherein the wirelessnetwork comprises a plurality of network devices having a wirelessaccess function, the plurality of network devices comprise a firstnetwork device, the non-transient computer-readable medium havinginstructions stored thereon, that when executed by a processor of thefirst network device, cause the first network device to perform thefollowing operations: determining a connection state of one or morefirst client devices; and in response to the determination that none ofthe one or more first client devices are connected to the wirelessnetwork for a predetermined time period, causing one or more secondclient devices currently connected to network devices other than thepredetermined network device among the plurality of network devices inthe wireless network to connect to the predetermined network device; andinstructing the network devices other than the predetermined networkdevice to turn off the wireless access function, such that the wirelessaccess function of only the predetermined network device is kept on.

In some embodiments, for the above-mentioned non-transientcomputer-readable medium, wherein the first network device is connectedwith other network devices among the plurality of network devices bywire, the non-transient computer-readable medium further comprisinginstructions that, when executed by the processor of the first networkdevice, cause the first network device to perform the followingoperations: determining whether any of the one or more first clientdevices is connected to the predetermined network device; and inresponse to the determination that at least one of the one or more firstclient devices is connected to the predetermined network device,instructing the network devices other than the predetermined networkdevice to turn on the wireless access function.

In some embodiments, for the above-mentioned non-transientcomputer-readable medium, wherein in a case where the predeterminednetwork device comprises the first network device, the non-transientcomputer-readable medium further comprising instructions that, whenexecuted by the processor of the first network device, cause the firstnetwork device to perform the following operations: in response to thedetermination that the at least one of the one or more first clientdevices is connected to the predetermined network device, notifying thenetwork devices other than the predetermined network device to turn onthe wireless access function through a wired connection.

In some embodiments, for the above non-transient computer-readablemedium, wherein in a case where the predetermined network device doesnot comprise the first network device, the non-transientcomputer-readable medium further comprising instructions that, whenexecuted by the processor of the first network device, cause the firstnetwork device to perform the following operations: receiving a messagefrom the predetermined network device through a wired connection,wherein the message indicates that the at least one of the one or morefirst client devices has been connected to the predetermined networkdevice; turning on the wireless access function on the first networkdevice; and notifying network devices other than the predeterminednetwork device and the first network device to turn on the wirelessaccess function through a wired connection.

In some embodiments, the above-mentioned non-transient computer-readablemedium further comprising instructions that, when executed by theprocessor of the first network device, cause the first network deviceto: cause the one or more second client devices to connect to thepredetermined network device through signaling based on wireless networkprotocol; or cause the one or more second client devices to connect tothe predetermined network device by temporarily adding the one or moresecond client devices to blacklists of the network devices other thanthe predetermined network device.

In some embodiments, for the above non-transient computer-readablemedium, wherein the one or more first client devices and thepredetermined network device are set by a user through a configurationpage or a graphical user interface of an application of the wirelessnetwork.

Other aspects of the present disclosure relate to an apparatus for awireless network, which comprises means for performing operations of themethod as described above.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ATTACHED DRAWINGS

In order to better understand the present disclosure and show how toimplement, description will now be made by way of examples withreference to the accompanying drawings, noting that similar referencenumerals refer to the corresponding parts throughout the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example network environmentaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a first network device accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary method for a wirelessnetwork according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams of another exemplary method for awireless network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is made with reference to theattached drawings, and the following detailed description is provided tofacilitate comprehensive understanding of various exemplary embodimentsof the present disclosure. The following description comprises variousdetails to facilitate understanding. However, these details are merelyconsidered as examples, not for limiting the present disclosure. Thepresent disclosure is defined by the appended claims and theirequivalents. The words and phrases used in the following description areonly used to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the presentdisclosure. In addition, for clarity and brevity, descriptions ofwell-known structures, functions, and configurations may be omitted.Those of ordinary skilled in the art will realize that various changesand modifications can be made to the examples described in the presentspecification without departing from the gist and scope of the presentdisclosure.

As mentioned above, in the prior art, in scenes such as the home or theoffice, a plurality of network devices may be used to provide a wirelessnetwork with wide coverage, large capacity and high reliability.However, this network architecture will also consume more power,especially by the wireless access function. If the wireless accessfunction on a plurality of network devices in such wireless network isalways kept open, the power consumption would be high.

Therefore, this disclosure seeks to turn off the wireless accessfunction on one or more unnecessary network devices under certaincircumstances (for example, when family members/office workers leavehome/office, the number of client devices using wireless accessdecreases or some areas in home/office no longer need comprehensivecoverage), thereby saving power consumption.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example network environment 100according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

In some embodiments, the example network environment 100 may comprise aplurality of network devices 110 a, 110 b, 110 c (hereinaftercollectively referred to as network device 110 for simplicity) and oneor more client devices 120 a, 120 b, 120 c, 120 d (hereinaftercollectively referred to as client device 120 for simplicity). In someembodiments, the network device 110 may receive various types ofmessages from and/or send various types of messages to the client device120. For example, one or more client devices 120 may access a wirelessnetwork through the corresponding network device 110 and receive one ormore data services, one or more audio/video services, one or more homesecurity services and/or other services through the correspondingnetwork device 110. In some embodiments, some or all of the networkdevices of the network devices 110 can be connected with each other bywire to receive/transmit various types of messages.

The network devices 110 may be various types of network devices withwireless access function and capable of transmitting messages betweenthe client devices 120 and the network, such as an access point (AP)with wireless access function, a transceiver, a controller, a radionode, a router (e.g., a wireless router and mobile hotspot router), agateway, and a home network controller. In some embodiments, the networkdevice 110 a may be referred to herein as a first network device. Forexample, the network device 110 a may be the main AP in the wirelessnetwork, and the network devices 110 b, 110 c may be the extended APs inthe wireless network. In such examples, the first network device 110 aand the network devices 110 b and 110 c can be connected by wire. Thefirst network device 110 a can acquire the information stored in theextended network devices (e.g., the network devices 110 b and 110 c),and can centrally control and manage the extended network devices. Inother embodiments, all network devices can be connected with each otherby wire, and one of the extended network devices can also obtaininformation from other network devices and notify and control othernetwork devices. Note that the present disclosure does not specificallylimit the type of the network device 110. It should be noted that, forthe sake of simplicity, when AP is mentioned in the following, it isintended to comprise various network devices with AP functions.

In some embodiments, the client devices 120 may comprise various typesof devices, including but not limited to smart phones, cellular phones,smart watches, wearable devices, consumer electronic devices, portablecomputing devices, desktop computers, laptop computers,sub-notebooks/netbooks, servers, computers, mainframe computers,cloud-based computers, tablet computers and other electronic devices, orsmart audio devices, webcams, lighting equipment, smart refrigerators,smart air conditioners, or any other type of smart home or smart officeequipment that can send and/or receive messages in a variety of ways.For some of these client devices (e.g., smart phones, cellular phones,wearable devices, etc.), they may move with the users at certain times,or they may not always access the wireless network in the current scene;other client devices among these client devices (such as smart audiodevices, webcams and other smart home devices) may be fixed in someareas in the home/office scene most of the time, and some of them needto keep the connection with the wireless network (e.g., webcam, smartair conditioner, etc.) in order to maintain the normal operation ofthese client devices or enable users to control and manage these devicesanytime and anywhere. For example, when the user leaves the home/office,the smart phone will also leave and be no longer connected to thewireless network in the home/office. With the user leaving, some clientdevices (e.g., smart audio devices) may not have to connect to thewireless network, but the network cameras may still need to keepconnected to the wireless network, so that the user may use the camerato monitor the situation of the corresponding location at any time. Notethat the present disclosure does not specifically limit the type of theclient device 120.

In the network environment 100 as in FIG. 1 , a plurality of networkdevices are used to provide wireless access, so that the coverage areaof the wireless network is wider, the capacity is larger and thetransmission reliability is higher. In the prior art, if the pluralityof network devices are always kept in the “on” state, especially theirwireless access function, they will consume high amounts of power.Therefore, in view of such problems, in the embodiments of the presentdisclosure, a network device is used to determine the connection statusof some predetermined client devices, and when it is determined thatthese predetermined client devices are not connected to the wirelessnetwork for a predetermined period of time, the wireless access functionon one or more unnecessary network devices will be turned off, with onlythe wireless access function on necessary network devices being kept, sothat the on/off of the wireless access function of network devices canbe dynamically adjusted according to the situation of client devices,conducing to the reduction of power consumption.

Now, with reference to FIG. 2 , we will describe an embodiment of anetwork device (referred to herein as a first network device, e.g., thenetwork device 110 a shown in FIG. 1 ), which can perform at least someoperations according to the embodiments of the present disclosure incommunication technology. The electronic device 110 a may comprise aprocessing subsystem 210, a memory subsystem 212, and a networkingsubsystem 214.

The processing subsystem 210 comprises one or more devices configured toperform computing operations. The processing subsystem 210 providesvarious functions of the first network device 110 a. In someembodiments, the processing subsystem 210 is configured to performoperations for saving power consumption in a wireless network. Forexample, the processing subsystem 210 may comprise one or moremicroprocessors, ASICs, microcontrollers, programmable logic devices,graphic processing units (GPU), and/or one or more digital signalprocessors (DSP). The processing subsystem 210 may execute variousprogram instructions stored in the memory subsystem 212 to performcorresponding operations, for example, to execute various programinstructions to realize the methods shown in FIG. 3 , FIG. 4A and FIG.4B.

The memory subsystem 212 comprises one or more devices for storing dataand/or instructions used for the processing subsystem 210 and thenetworking subsystem 214. For example, the memory subsystem 212 maycomprise a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a static random accessmemory (SRAM), and/or other types of memory (sometimes collectively orindividually referred to as “computer-readable storage medium”). In someembodiments, the instructions used in the memory subsystem 212 of theprocessing subsystem 210 comprise: one or more program modules orinstruction sets (for example, a program instruction 222 or an operatingsystem 224), which can be executed by the processing subsystem 210. Itshould be noted that one or more computer programs may constitute acomputer program mechanism. In addition, an instruction in the variousmodules of the memory subsystem 212 may be implemented by the following:advanced programming languages, object-oriented programming languagesand/or assembly or machine languages. Moreover, the programming languagemay be compiled or interpreted, e.g., as configurable or configured(used interchangeably in this discussion), for executing by theprocessing subsystem 210 to realize the functions of the presentdisclosure.

In addition, the memory subsystem 212 may comprise mechanism forcontrolling access to memory. In some embodiments, the memory subsystem212 comprises a memory hierarchy, and the memory hierarchy comprises oneor more caches coupled to the memory in the first network device 110 a.In some of these embodiments, one or more the caches are located in theprocessing subsystem 210.

In some embodiments, the memory subsystem 212 is coupled to one or morehigh-capacity mass storage devices (not shown). For example, the memorysubsystem 212 may be coupled to a magnetic or optical driver, a solidstate driver, or another type of mass storage device. In theseembodiments, the first network device 110 a may use the memory subsystem212 as a fast-access storage of frequently used data, whereas the massstorage device is used for storing infrequently used data.

The networking subsystem 214 comprises one or more devices configured tobe coupled to a wired and/or wireless network and to communicate overthe wired and/or wireless network (i.e., to perform network operations),including: control logic 216, an interface circuit 218, and one or moreantennas 220 (or antenna elements). (Although FIG. 2 comprises one ormore antennas 220, in some embodiments, the first network device 110 acomprises one or more nodes that can be coupled to one or more antennas220, such as node 208. Therefore, the first network device 110 a may ormay not comprise one or more antennas 220.) For example, the networkingsubsystem 214 may comprise a Bluetooth networking system, a cellularnetworking system (for example, 3G/4G/5G networks, such as UMTS andLTE), a USB networking system, a networking system based on standardsdescribed in IEEE 802.11 (for example, Wi-Fi networking system),Ethernet networking system, and/or another networking system.

In the first network device 110 a, the processing subsystem 210, memorysubsystem 212 and networking subsystem 214 are coupled together by bus228. Bus 228 may comprise electro, optic and/or electro-opticconnections where subsystems can be used to communicate commands anddata, and so on. Although only one bus 228 is shown for clarity,different embodiments may comprise different numbers or configurationsof electrical, optical, and/or electro-optical connections in thesubsystems.

In some embodiments, the first network device 110 a comprises a displaysubsystem 226 for showing information on a display device, which maycomprise a display driver and a display, such liquid crystal display,multi-touch screen, and the like.

The first network device 110 a may be (or may be comprised in) anyelectronic device with at least one network interface For example, thefirst network device 110 a may be (or may be comprised in): a desktopcomputer, a laptop computer, a sub-notebook/netbook, a server, acomputer, a mainframe computer, a cloud-based computer, a tabletcomputer, a smart phone, a cellular phone, a smart watch, a wearabledevice, a consumer electronic device, a portable computing device, anaccess point, a transceiver, a controller, a radio node, a router, aswitch, a communication device, a test device, and/or other electronicdevices.

Although specific components are used to describe the first networkdevice 110 a, in alternative embodiments, different components and/orsubsystems may exist in the first network device 110 a. For example, thefirst network device 110 a may comprise one or more additionalprocessing subsystems, memory subsystems, networking subsystems, and/ordisplay subsystems. Besides, one or more subsystems may not exist in thefirst network device 110 a. Moreover, in some embodiments, theelectronic device 110 a may comprise one or more additional subsystemsnot shown in FIG. 2 . In addition, although separate subsystems areshown in FIG. 2 , in some embodiments, some or all of the givensubsystems or components may be integrated into one or more the othersubsystems or components in the electronic device 110 a. For example, insome embodiments, the program instruction 222 is comprised in theoperating system 224, and/or the control logic 216 is comprised in theinterface circuit 218.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary method 300 for awireless network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.Combined with the network environment shown in FIG. 1 , the wirelessnetwork to which the method 300 is applicable may comprise a pluralityof network devices 110 with a wireless access function, the plurality ofnetwork devices including the first network device 110 a, and the method300 may be executed by the first network device 110 a.

The method 300 may comprise, in operation 301, determining whether noneof one or more first client devices are connected to the wirelessnetwork for a predetermined time period. If yes, continue to executeoperation 302; otherwise, return to operation 301 and continue todetermine a connection state of the one or more first client devices.

The one or more first client devices may be, for example, mobile devicescarried by the user, and may be preset by the user. For example, it ispreset by the user through the configuration page or the graphical userinterface of the application of the wireless network. The first clientdevice can be set as a mobile device such as the user's smart phone,cellular phone, etc., which may indicate whether the user has left thecurrent scenario to some extent. When the user has left, some clientdevices may not have to access the wireless network, so the wirelessnetwork can be switched to a state of lowering energy consumption.

The operations of the method 300 will be further illustrated by takingclient devices 120 a and 120 b in FIG. 1 as the first client devices asan example.

The connection states of the client devices 120 a and 120 b can bedetermined by various ways. For example, the first network device 110 amay periodically poll the network devices 110 b and 110 c, and determinethe connection states of the client devices 120 a and 120 b according tothe feedback of the network devices. In another example, the firstnetwork device 110 a may periodically receive reports from the networkdevices 110 b and 110 c to determine the connection states of the clientdevices 120 a and 120 b.

The predetermined time described in operation 301 may be ten minutes,one hour, or very short, for example, close to 0 min (i.e., the momentwhen the first client device was just disconnected). The predeterminedtime can also be set by the user, for example, through a configurationpage or a graphical user interface of the application of the wirelessnetwork.

With continued reference to FIG. 3 , the method 300 may furthercomprise, in operation 302, performing an operation to cause one or moresecond client devices currently connected to network devices other thana predetermined network device among the plurality of network devices110 in the wireless network to connect to the predetermined networkdevice.

The predetermined network device may be one or more network deviceswhose wireless access functions are always kept on even if other networkdevices' wireless access functions are turned off. The predeterminednetwork device may be preset by the user. For example, it can be presetby the user through the configuration page or the graphical userinterface of the application of the wireless network. The predeterminednetwork device can be preset by the user in consideration of thedistribution of the network devices and/or the distribution of theclient devices that need network connections at all times. For example,the user can select one or more of the plurality of the network devicesthat cover all the client devices that need to be always online as thepredetermined network device(s). For example, in a home scenario, thepredetermined network device can be set as one or more of the APs thatcover all the client devices that need to be always online, such as awebcam, a smart refrigerator, and a smart air conditioner. Note thatthis disclosure does not put a limit on the number of the predeterminednetwork devices. Also note that, the first network device (for example,a primary AP) may function as a controller of the wireless network andhave the information of which network device is set as the predeterminednetwork device that is always on. Nevertheless, other APs can also haveknowledge of that information through communicating with the firstnetwork device, which is not limited by the present disclosure.

The one or more second client devices can be steered to connect to thepredetermined network device in various ways. For example, the one ormore second client devices are steered to connect to the predeterminednetwork device by signaling based on wireless network protocol or byusing blacklists of network devices. Now, we take FIG. 1 as an exampleto illustrate the operation in a case where the predetermined networkdevice comprises the first network device 110 a and in a case where thepredetermined network device does not comprise the first network device110 a, respectively.

Take FIG. 1 as an example, when the predetermined network devicecomprises the first network device 110 a, assuming that thepredetermined network device is preset to be the first network device110 a, then client device 120 c is a second client device in thewireless network that is not connected to the predetermined networkdevice. The steering operation may be that the first network device 110a notifies the network devices 110 b and 110 c, so that the networkdevices 110 b and 110 c notify the client device 120 c to connect to thepredetermined network device through signaling based on a wirelessnetwork protocol (e.g., IEEE 802.11v). The steering operation may alsobe that the first network device 110 a notifies the network devices 110b and 110 c, so that the network devices 110 b and 110 c temporarily addthe client device 120 c to their respective blacklists, causing theclient device 120 c to connect to the predetermined network device.

Still take FIG. 1 as an example, when the predetermined network devicedoes not comprise the first network device 110 a, assuming that thepredetermined network device is preset to be the network device 110 c,then the client device 120 d is a second client device that is notconnected to the predetermined network device in the wireless network.The steering operation may be that the first network device 110 anotifies the client device 120 d to connect to the network device 110 cthrough signaling based on a wireless network protocol (e.g., IEEE802.11v). The steering operation may also be that the first networkdevice 110 a notifies the network device 110 b, so that both the firstnetwork device 110 a and the network device 110 b temporarily add theclient device 120 d to their respective backlists, thus causing theclient device 120 d to connect to the network device 110 c.

With continued reference to FIG. 3 , the method 300 may furthercomprise, in operation 303, instructing the network devices other thanthe predetermined network device to turn off the wireless accessfunction such that the wireless access function of only thepredetermined network device is kept on.

For example, if the predetermined network device is the first networkdevice 110 a, the first network device 110 a may notify the networkdevices 110 b and 110 c to turn off the wireless access function, suchthat the wireless access function of only the first network device 110 ais kept on. If the predetermined network device does not comprise thefirst network device 110 a, assuming that the predetermined networkdevice is preset to be the network device 110 c, then the first networkdevice 110 a can instructing itself and the network device 110 b, tocause both the first network device 110 a and the network device 110 bto turn off the wireless access function, such that the wireless accessfunction of only the network device 110 c is kept on.

According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the on/off ofthe wireless access function on the network devices can be dynamicallyadjusted according to the changing of the client devices (especially theclient devices carried by the user), so that the wireless accessfunction of only the necessary network devices is kept on, thusfacilitating the reduction of power consumption.

Now, exemplary methods 400 and 500 for wireless networks according toembodiments of the present disclosure will be described with referenceto FIGS. 4A-4B. In the methods 400 and 500, at least one of the one ormore first client devices that was not connected to the wireless networkbefore is now connected to the wireless network, which may indicates,for example, that the user returns home/office, so that the wirelessnetwork can be switched from a state of saving energy to a state ofnormal operation. FIG. 4A shows the method 400 in the case where thepredetermined network device that is always kept on comprises the firstnetwork device 110 a, and FIG. 4B shows the method 500 in the case wherethe predetermined network device that is always kept on does notcomprise the first network device 110 a. Note that the methods 400 and500 here can be executed by the first network device 110 a shown in FIG.1 , the client device can be the client device 120 shown in FIG. 1 , andthe first network device 110 a in the methods 400 and 500 is connectedwith other network devices 110 b and 110 c by wire.

The operations 301-303 in FIGS. 4A-4B are the same as the correspondingoperations in FIG. 3 , and will not be described again here.

Referring to FIG. 4A, in the case where the predetermined network devicecomprises the first network device 110 a, the method 400 furthercomprises determining whether any of the one or more first clientdevices is connected to the predetermined network device 110 a inoperation 401. If yes, proceed to operation 402. If not, return tooperation 401 and continue to determine whether any of the one or morefirst client device is connected to the predetermined network device 110a. In the case where the first client device is connected to the firstnetwork device 110 a, the first network device 110 a can determine theconnection of the first client device by its own. On the other hand, inthe case where there are more than one predetermined network device andthe first client device is connected to another one of the predeterminednetwork devices than the first network device 110 a, the otherpredetermined network device may notify the first network device 110 aof the connection of the first client device.

With continued reference to FIG. 4A, the method 400 further comprises,in operation 402, notifying network devices other than the predeterminednetwork device to turn on the wireless access function through a wiredconnection. Take FIG. 1 as an example, assuming that the client device120 b is connected to the first network device 110 a in operation 401,the first network device 110 a will notify the network devices 110 b and110 c to turn on the wireless access function through a wiredconnection.

Referring to FIG. 4B, in the case where the predetermined network devicedoes not comprise the first network device 110 a, assuming that thepredetermined network device is preset to be the network device 110 c,the method 500 further comprises, in operation 501, determining whethera message indicating that at least one of the one or more first clientdevices (e.g., the client device 120 b) has been connected to thenetwork device 110 c is received from the network device 110 c through awired connection. If yes, proceed to operation 502. If not, return tooperation 501 and continue to determine whether the correspondingmessage is received.

With continued reference to FIG. 4B, the method 500 further comprises,in operation 502, turning on the wireless access function on the firstnetwork device 110 a.

With continued reference to FIG. 4B, the method 500 further comprises,in operation 503, notifying, by the first network device 110 a, thenetwork devices 110 b to turn on the wireless access function through awired connection.

By the exemplary methods shown in FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B, the on/off of thewireless access function on the network devices can be dynamicallyadjusted according to the changing of the client device (especially theclient devices carried by the user), so that when the client devicesleave the current network environment with the user, the wireless accessfunction of only the necessary network devices is kept on, and when theclient devices return to the current network environment with the user,the network device in the wireless network enters the normal workingstate, thus meeting the requirements of the client devices.

Although Wi-Fi and/or Ethernet communication protocols are used in theabove discussion as illustrative examples, in other embodiments, variouscommunication protocols may be used, and more generally, communicationtechnologies may be used. Therefore, communication technologies can beused in various network interfaces. In addition, although someoperations in the aforementioned embodiments are implemented by hardwareor software, in general, the operations in the aforementionedembodiments may be implemented in various configurations and frameworks.Therefore, some or all of the operations in the aforementionedembodiments may be executed by hardware, software, or both. For example,at least some operations in the communication technology can beimplemented using the program instruction 222, the operating system 224(e.g., a driver for the interface circuit 218), or firmware in theinterface circuit 218. Alternatively or in addition, at least someoperations in the communication technology may be implemented atphysical layer, such as hardware in the interface circuit 218.

The present disclosure can be implemented as any combination of devices,systems, integrated circuits, and computer programs on non-transientcomputer-readable media. One or more processors can be implemented as anintegrated circuit (IC), an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC) or a large-scale integrated circuit (LSI), a system LSI, or asuper LSI or super LSI component that performs part or all of thefunctions described in this disclosure.

The present disclosure comprises the use of software, applications,computer programs, or algorithms. Software, application programs,computer programs or algorithms can be stored on a non-transientcomputer readable medium, so that a computer with one or more processorscan execute the above steps and the steps described in the drawings. Forexample, one or more memories store software or algorithms by executableinstructions, and one or more processors can associate the execution ofa set of instructions of the software or algorithms to providemonitoring in any number of wireless networks according to theembodiments described in this disclosure.

Software and computer programs (also called programs, softwareapplications, applications, components, or codes) comprise machineinstructions for programmable processors, and can be realized inhigh-level procedural languages, object-oriented programming languages,functional programming languages, logic programming languages, orassembly languages or machine languages. The term “computer-readablemedium” refers to any computer program product, device or device used toprovide machine instructions or data to the programmable data processor,such as magnetic disks, optical disks, solid-state storage devices,memories, and programmable logic devices (PLD), includingcomputer-readable media that receive machine instructions ascomputer-readable signals.

For example, the computer-readable medium may comprise dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM), random access memory (RAM), read only memory(ROM), electrically erasable read only memory (EEPROM), compact diskonly read memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage devices,magnetic disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices, or anyother media that can be used to carry or store the requiredcomputer-readable program codes in the form of instructions or datastructures and accessible by a computer or general or special purposeprocessor. As used herein, magnetic disks or disks comprise compactdiscs (CDs), laser disks, optical disks, digital versatile discs (DVDs),floppy disks, and blue-ray disks, where magnetic disks usually copy datamagnetically, and disks use laser to optically copy data. Combinationsof the above also fall into the scope of computer-readable media.

In one or more embodiments, the use of the words “able”, “can”,“operable as” or “configured as” refers to some devices, logics,hardware and/or components designed to be used in a specified manner.The subject matter of the present disclosure is provided as an exampleof the apparatus, system, method, and program for performing thefeatures described in the present disclosure. However, in addition tothe above-mentioned features, other features or modifications can beexpected. It is expected that any newly emerging technology that mayreplace any of the above-mentioned implementation technologies can beused to complete the implementation of the components and functions ofthe present disclosure.

In addition, the above description provides examples without limitingthe scope, applicability, or configuration set forth in the claims.Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure,changes may be made to the function and arrangement of the discussedelements. Various embodiments may omit, substitute, or add variousprocesses or components as appropriate. For example, features describedin some embodiments may be combined in other embodiments.

Similarly, although operations are depicted in a specific order in thedrawings, this should not be understood as requiring such operations tobe performed in the specific order shown or in a sequential order, orrequiring the performance of all illustrated operations to achieve thedesired result. In some cases, multi-tasking and parallel processing canbe advantageous.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A first network device for a wirelessnetwork, wherein the wireless network comprises a plurality of networkdevices having a wireless access function, the plurality of networkdevices comprise the first network device, the first network devicecomprising: a memory having instructions stored thereon; a processor,configured to execute the instructions stored on the memory to cause thefirst network device to perform the following operations: determining aconnection state of one or more first client devices; and in response tothe determination that none of the one or more first client devices areconnected to the wireless network for a predetermined time period:causing one or more second client devices currently connected to networkdevices other than a predetermined network device among the plurality ofnetwork devices in the wireless network to connect to the predeterminednetwork device; and instructing the network devices other than thepredetermined network device to turn off the wireless access functionsuch that the wireless access function of only the predetermined networkdevice is kept on.
 2. The first network device according to claim 1,wherein the first network device is connected with other network devicesamong the plurality of network devices by wire, the processor is furtherconfigured to execute instructions stored on the memory to cause thefirst network device to perform the following operations: determiningwhether any of the one or more first client devices is connected to thepredetermined network device; and in response to the determination thatat least one of the one or more first client device is connected to thepredetermined network device, instructing the network devices other thanthe predetermined network device to turn on the wireless accessfunction.
 3. The first network device according to claim 2, wherein in acase where the predetermined network device comprises the first networkdevice, the processor is further configured to execute instructionsstored on the memory to cause the first network device to perform thefollowing operations: in response to the determination that the at leastone of the one or more first client devices is connected to thepredetermined network device, notifying the network devices other thanthe predetermined network device to turn on the wireless access functionthrough a wired connection.
 4. The first network device according toclaim 2, wherein in a case where the predetermined network device doesnot comprise the first network device, the processor is furtherconfigured to execute instructions stored on the memory to cause thefirst network device to perform the following operations: receiving amessage from the predetermined network device through a wiredconnection, wherein the message indicates that the at least one of theone or more first client devices has been connected to the predeterminednetwork device; turning on the wireless access function on the firstnetwork device; and notifying network devices other than thepredetermined network device and the first network device to turn on thewireless access function through a wired connection.
 5. The firstnetwork device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to execute instructions stored on the memory to cause thefirst network device to perform the following operations: periodicallypolling network devices other than the first network device among theplurality of network devices to determine the connection state of theone or more first client devices; or periodically receiving reports fromthe network devices other than the first network device among theplurality of network devices to determine the connection state of theone or more first client devices.
 6. The first network device accordingto claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to executeinstructions stored on the memory to cause the first network device to:cause the one or more second client devices to connect to thepredetermined network device through signaling based on wireless networkprotocol; or cause the one or more second client devices to connect tothe predetermined network device by temporarily adding the one or moresecond client devices to blacklists of the network devices other thanthe predetermined network device.
 7. The first network device accordingto claim 1, wherein the one or more first client devices and thepredetermined network device are set by a user through a configurationpage or a graphical user interface of an application of the wirelessnetwork.
 8. A method for a wireless network, wherein the wirelessnetwork comprises a plurality of network devices having a wirelessaccess function, and the plurality of network devices comprise a firstnetwork device, and the method comprising: determining a connectionstate of one or more first client devices; and in response to thedetermination that none of the one or more first client devices areconnected to the wireless network for a predetermined time period:causing one or more second client devices currently connected to networkdevices other than the predetermined network device among the pluralityof network devices in the wireless network to connect to thepredetermined network device; and instructing the network devices otherthan the predetermined network device to turn off the wireless accessfunction, such that the wireless access function of only thepredetermined network device is kept on; wherein the method is executedby the first network device.
 9. The method according to claim 8, whereinthe first network device is connected with other network devices amongthe plurality network devices by wire, and the method furthercomprising: determining whether any of the one or more first clientdevices is connected to the predetermined network device; and inresponse to the determination that at least one of the one or more firstclient devices is connected to the predetermined network device,instructing the network devices other than the predetermined networkdevice to turn on the wireless access function.
 10. The method accordingto claim 9, wherein in a case where the predetermined network devicecomprises the first network device, the step of in response to thedetermination that the at least one of the one or more first clientdevices is connected to the predetermined network device, instructingthe network devices other than the predetermined network device to turnon the wireless access function further comprising: in response to thedetermination that the at least one of the one or more first clientdevices is connected to the predetermined network device, notifying thenetwork devices other than the predetermined network device to turn onthe wireless access function through a wired connection.
 11. The methodaccording to claim 9, wherein in a case where the predetermined networkdevice does not comprise the first network device, the step of inresponse to the determination that the at least one of the one or morefirst client devices is connected to the predetermined network device,instructing the network devices other than the predetermined networkdevice to turn on the wireless access function further comprising:receiving a message from the predetermined network device through awired connection, wherein the message indicates that the at least one ofthe one or more first client devices has been connected to thepredetermined network device; turning on the wireless access function onthe first network device; and notifying network devices other than thepredetermined network device and the first network device to turn on thewireless access function through a wired connection.
 12. The methodaccording to claim 8, wherein the step of causing the one or more secondclient devices to connect to the predetermined network device furthercomprises: causing the one or more second client devices to connect tothe predetermined network device through signaling based on wirelessnetwork protocol; or causing the one or more second client devices toconnect to the predetermined network device by temporarily adding theone or more second client devices to blacklists of the network devicesother than the predetermined network device.
 13. The method according toclaim 8, wherein the one or more first client devices and thepredetermined network device are set by a user through a configurationpage or a graphical user interface of an application of the wirelessnetwork.
 14. A non-transient computer-readable medium for a wirelessnetwork, wherein the wireless network comprises a plurality of networkdevices having a wireless access function, the plurality of networkdevices comprise a first network device, the non-transientcomputer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, that whenexecuted by a processor of the first network device, cause the firstnetwork device to perform the following operations: determining aconnection state of one or more first client devices; and in response tothe determination that none of the one or more first client devices areconnected to the wireless network for a predetermined time period:causing one or more second client devices currently connected to networkdevices other than the predetermined network device among the pluralityof network devices in the wireless network to connect to thepredetermined network device; and instructing the network devices otherthan the predetermined network device to turn off the wireless accessfunction, such that the wireless access function of only thepredetermined network device is kept on.
 15. The non-transientcomputer-readable medium according to claim 14, wherein the firstnetwork device is connected with other network devices among theplurality of network devices by wire, the non-transientcomputer-readable medium further comprising instructions that, whenexecuted by the processor of the first network device, cause the firstnetwork device to perform the following operations: determining whetherany of the one or more first client devices is connected to thepredetermined network device; and in response to the determination thatat least one of the one or more first client devices is connected to thepredetermined network device, instructing the network devices other thanthe predetermined network device to turn on the wireless accessfunction.
 16. The non-transient computer-readable medium according toclaim 15, wherein in a case where the predetermined network devicecomprises the first network device, the non-transient computer-readablemedium further comprising instructions that, when executed by theprocessor of the first network device, cause the first network device toperform the following operations: in response to the determination thatthe at least one of the one or more first client devices is connected tothe predetermined network device, notifying the network devices otherthan the predetermined network device to turn on the wireless accessfunction through a wired connection.
 17. The non-transientcomputer-readable medium according to claim 15, wherein in a case wherethe predetermined network device does not comprise the first networkdevice, the non-transient computer-readable medium further comprisinginstructions that, when executed by the processor of the first networkdevice, cause the first network device to perform the followingoperations: receiving a message from the predetermined network devicethrough a wired connection, wherein the message indicates that the atleast one of the one or more first client devices has been connected tothe predetermined network device; turning on the wireless accessfunction on the first network device; and notifying network devicesother than the predetermined network device and the first network deviceto turn on the wireless access function through a wired connection. 18.The non-transient computer-readable medium of claim 14, furthercomprising instructions that, when executed by the processor of thefirst network device, cause the first network device to: cause the oneor more second client devices to connect to the predetermined networkdevice through signaling based on wireless network protocol; or causethe one or more second client devices to connect to the predeterminednetwork device by temporarily adding the one or more second clientdevices to blacklists of the network devices other than thepredetermined network device.
 19. The non-transient computer readablemedium according to claim 14, wherein the one or more first clientdevices and the predetermined network device are set by a user through aconfiguration page or a graphical user interface of an application ofthe wireless network.
 20. The non-transient computer readable mediumaccording to claim 14, wherein the determining whether any of the one ormore first client devices is connected to the predetermined networkdevice further comprises: periodically polling network devices otherthan the first network device among the plurality of network devices todetermine the connection state of the one or more first client devices;or periodically receiving reports from the network devices other thanthe first network device among the plurality of network devices todetermine the connection state of the one or more first client devices.